Thursday, June 17, 2010

JUNE 17, 2010

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY1944 - Andy Russell (with orchestra conducted by Al Saks)'s Capitol Records single "Amor" (with "The Day After Forever" on the flip side) peaks at #5, and Jo Stafford (with Paul Weston and His Orchestra)'s Capitol Records single "Long Ago (And Far Away)" (with "I Love You" on the flip side) stays at #7 for the 2nd week on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart60 Years Ago Today In 1950 - Nat "King" Cole (with Les Baxter and His Orchestra using a Nelson Riddle arrangement)'s Capitol Records single "Mona Lisa" (the flip side of "The Greatest Inventor Of Them All") is #9 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart and Les Paul's Capitol Records single "Nola" (with Les Paul and Mary Ford's "Jealous" on the flip side) enters the top 20 at #20 and will go on to be his first solo top 10 single1952 - Hank Thompson's Capitol Records single "The Wild Side of Life", with "Crying In The Deep Blue Sea" on the flip side, is #1 on the U.S. Country singles chart1957 - Ferlin Husky's Capitol Records single "Gone" is #15 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart and Tommy Sands' Capitol Records single "Goin' Steady" is tied for #30 with Billy Williams' single "Im Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter"1959 - The Four Freshmen (Bob Flanigan on vocals, trombone and bass; Don Barbour on vocals and guitar; Ross Barbour on vocals and drums; and Ken Albers on vocals, trumpet, mellophone and bass) with arranger Dick Reynolds conducting the studio orchestra (Tommy Tedesco, Al Hendrickson, Howard Roberts, Bobby Gibbons, Bill Pitman, George Van Eps on guitar; Red Mitchell on bass; Jack Sperling on drums) record the tracks "Come Rain Or Come Shine" (with Shelly Manne on percussion), "Nancy" (with Jerome Friedman on vibraphones and bells), "It's A Pity To Say Goodnight", "Oh, Lonely Winter", and "The More I See You" (the last two tracks also with Jerome Friedman on vibraphones and bells) with producer Lee Gillette at the Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California, with Jack Marshall and Dick Reynolds handling arrangements and conducting, for their Capitol Records album "The Four Freshmen And Five Guitars"50 Years Ago Today In 1960 - Judy Garland records the tracks "I've Confessed to the Breeze (I Love You)", "Old Devil Moon", and "That's Entertainment" with producer Jack Marshall at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California for her Capitol Records album "Judy/That's Entertainment!"50 Years Ago Today In 1960 - The Kingston Trio record the tracks "We Wish You A Merry Christmas", "All Through The Night", "Follow Now, Oh Shepards", and "Somerset Glouchestershire Wassail" with producer Voyle Gilmore and engineer Pete Abbot at The Capitol Tower Studios for their Capitol Records album "The Last Month Of The Year". I wonder if Judy Garland and The Kingston Trio met each other and/or listened in to each other's sessions.1963 - The Beatles record the track "Boys" for BBC Radio which will later be released on The Beatles' 1994 Apple Records compilation CD "Live At The BBC" released in 1994 and distributed by Capitol Records in the United States1963 - The Kingston Trio record the track "Ballad Of The Thresher" with lead vocal by John Stewart, for their Capitol Records album "Sunny Side"1966 - The Beatles hold the final sessions to record the tracks "Here There And Everywhere" and "Got To Get You Into My Life" for their album "Revolver" at Abbey Road Studios in London1967 - Capitol Records artists The Kingston Trio ends their final three-week engagement at the hungry i in San Francisco and enters retirement. The last songs of their final set were "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" and "Scotch And Soda."1968 - Wanda Jackson records the tracks "Little Boy Soldier" for her 1968 Capitol Records album "Cream Of The Crop" and "As The Day Wears On" for her 1969 album "The Happy Side Of Wanda" at the Columbia Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producers Ken Nelson and Kelson Herston1972 - Apple Records releases Paul McCartney's single "Mary Had a Little Lamb", with Capitol Records handling distribution in the United States. The single will peak at #28 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart.1972 - Capitol Records artist (1972) Paul Pena performs with The T-Bone Walker Blues Band at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland1979 - The Motels record the track "People, Places and Things" for their first Capitol Records album at The Capitol Tower Studios in Hollywood, California1984 - Duran Duran's Capitol Records single "The Reflex" becomes the groups first #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart1986 - Kate Smith (born Kathryn Elizabeth Smith), singer, radio and television variety show host, and Capitol Records artist, dies of diabetes at the age of 79 in Raleigh, North Carolina1988 - Garth Brooks signs with Capitol Records1997 - Capitol Records releases Megadeth's album "Cryptic Writings"2004 - The first of two sessions (the next will be on June 28, 2004) is held at The Capitol Records Studios for a benefit single for children and families affected by the Iraq War. The track is a cover of the 1971 hit (#3 on R&B chart & 12 on pop chart) single "Bring The Boys Home" with Bad Boy Records artist Carl Thomas providing lead vocals with Morris Day, Juvenile, Wyclef Jean, Freda Payne (who sang the original version) and a children's chorus. Proceeds will be donated to the charity Children Uniting Nations.2005 - "Dateline NBC" airs an "in-depth...profile" of Capitol Records Nashville artist Keith Urban

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY1919 - Gene De Paul, composer (co-wrote the "Cow Cow Boogie" with Benny Carter, and the score for the motion picture musical "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers", and the Broadway and motion picture "Li'l Abner" with Capitol Records co-founder Johnny Mercer), is born Eugene Vincent De Paul in New York City, New York1951 - After 40 performances, the curtain comes down on the Broadway musical "Flahooley", with songs written by Sammy Fain and E.Y. Harburg and with Yma Sumac in the cast as well as first-timer Barbara Cook. Capitol Records will release the soundtrack album which will also be Cook's recording debut.1957 - Rick Nelson's Imperial Records single "Teenager's Romance is tied for #10 on Billboard's Best Selling Retail Records chart with The Coasters single "Young Blood", Fats Domino's Imperial Records single "Valley Of Tears" is #22, and Rick Nelson's Imperial Records single "I'm Walkin'" is #27. Imperial Records' catalog is currently owned by EMI Music Group, Capitol Music Group's parent company.1967 - Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Steve Miller Band perform at The Monterey Pop Jazz Festival. Their performances at the festival will lead to both bands being signed to Capitol Records.

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This blog contains information, that I gather daily, about the history of Capitol Records, related labels, The Capitol Records Tower, and other pop culture events and anniversaries.
Please contact me if you have any corrections, comments and/or facts you'd like to share.
To see some great photos of the opening of The Capitol Tower and to get a quick overview of Capitol's early history check out the archive for April 2006.

THE MELLOWAIRES?

I'm trying to track down who was in this group. They sang backup for Martha Tilton and Johnny Mercer at Capitol's first session on April 6, 1942 and at other sessions up until July 31, 1942, (the day before the recording ban went into effect) when the backed Freddie Slack and His Orchestra, Ella Mae Morse, Johnny Mercer and Margaret Whiting.Every listing for them just gives the group's name and, so far, none of the curators at the libraries that house the papers of Johnny Mercer, Dave Dexter, Jr., Jo Stafford and Paul Weston's collections, who really went all out to search, have been able to track down the group's roster.The Mellowaires also made two three minute "soundies" in 1942, "Cocktails For Two" with Bob Hughes and "LullabyIn Swing" on their own, copies of which are in the UCLA Film and Television Archives.Any help identifying anyone in this group would be much appreciated.